


Beauty and the Bill

by pixiePique



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Heartbreak, Imprisonment, M/M, Sacrifice, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-22 14:32:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6082974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixiePique/pseuds/pixiePique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Weirdmageddon and Bill impossible to defeat and his friends in chains, Dipper has no choice but to sacrifice himself to save the ones he loves. He surrenders himself and becomes Cipher's prisoner, but with nobody else to talk to he becomes attached to the demonic triangle. Love or Stockholm Syndrome? Even I don't know yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Well, pine tree?"

Dipper looked around frantically. Bill loomed huge above him, his booming laugh pounding in the boy's eardrums. All around him in a floating circle were his friends- Wendy, Stan, Ford, Soos, even Pacifica. Dipper felt his throat clench when his eyes landed on Mabel, her mouth moving in a silenced scream as she tried to escape the glowing blue prison the triangle had trapped her in. Everyone else in Gravity Falls was back in the ramshackle heap of stone bodies, soon to become backscratchers for a whole host of demonic creatures. Dipper could feel Bill's all-powerful eye on him. His heart was beating out of control, his breaths shallow and quick. He was looking for anything nearby that could help, but found nothing- not even Mabel's grappling hook or his stupid useless journal, as if those things stood a chance against the dream-demon.

"What's the matter, pine tree? No heroic plan this time?" Bill laughed, zooming down to look Dipper directly in the eye. "Ready to see your friends die?" The demon crooked his fingers slightly, and Dipper watched in horror as the blue glow around his loved ones tightened, causing his friends to choke and claw at their throats in silent agony.

Tears began to spill down the boy's cheeks. He sank to his knees, realizing there was no way out of this. He looked at his friends and family, committing them to memory and hoping that if Bill was going to make him watch them die, at least maybe he would be killed quickly afterwards. Then he saw Mabel's face again. His heart broke.

"No." Dipper whispered. He looked down at his hands, bruised and bloody, and forced them to clench into fists. Slowly, his shaking legs stood and he glared up at Bill. "NO!" He screamed.

Bill's eye narrowed. Blue flames shot up around the throne room, and strong winds began to blow as Dipper brought his hands up to shield his face.

"WHAT?" The yellow demon roared, swooping down until he was just centimeters from Dipper's face. The brunet flinched instinctively, then felt his eyes widen as his friends fell one by one to the floor, Bill's spell broken in his distracted state. They all got shakily to their feet, their eyes full of concern for Dipper as they tried to figure out his plan.

Bill circled Dipper even as the boy stared straight ahead and tried to stop his hands from shaking. "Pine tree, you clearly have no plan and no backup. I've outsmarted you." The demon stopped in front of the young boy. "How are you still defying me? Do you want to see your old man get crushed?" Dipper saw his Grunkles pushed down on their knees by an invisible force. "How about Red?" Wendy fell to the ground. "How about the little shooting star?" Mabel collapsed, unable to raise her head even to look at her twin. Tears began to fill Dipper's eyes. "Give it up, pine tree. You've got NOTHING!" Bill's evil laugh echoed through the room.

Dipper looked around at all the people he loved, then blinked the moisture from his eyes and stared defiantly up at Bill's single eye. 

"I've got one thing left, you monster! One thing you'd never expect, one last card on the table! You're a gambling man! Why don't you call my bluff, triangle? This isn't over until I say so!" The brunet screamed.   
Bill's eye widened. The force eased up on Dipper's friends, and their mouths fell open in horror. What was he doing? Dipper must have one hell of a plan in store.

"Okay, pine tree. Show me what you got." Cipher said, interested to find out what half-baked, cockamamie scheme the kid had left to throw at him. Bill couldn't wait for an excuse to squash him and his cronies like bugs.

Dipper took one last look at his friends. At his sister with tears in her eyes. He took a deep breath, and his family watched in horror as Dipper dropped to his knees, his head hanging low, and said, "I surrender."

Time seemed to stop. Nobody seemed to be able to process what was happening. Bill was frozen with shock as the pines boy slowly offered his hand to the demon. "I want to make a deal," Dipper said, glaring at the golden entity.

He held his hand out for what seemed like an eternity. Mabel was the first to come out of the trance. "Dipper, no!" She screamed. Her voice was quickly joined by the shouts of the rest of the group, begging Dipper not to do this. "Kid, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!" "Dipper, it's not worth it!" "Don't trust him, man!" "I'd rather die!" Bill snapped out of his stupor and silenced them with a flick of his wrist. 

"Well, well, pine tree. I certainly didn't expect this from you." Bill said. "What kind of deal did you have in mind?"

"You let my friends and family go. You can do whatever you want apart from that, I don't care. Just keep them safe." Dipper pleaded.

"I don't know, pine tree, that's a pretty big favor. What do I get in return?" The demon leered.

"Me. I'll give myself up to you." Dipper said quietly.

"Excuse me?" The triangle said, surprised.

"You get me as a willing prisoner. You said you liked me, once. You wanted me to be your puppet, well- here I am! You can have me!" The boy shouted. He stole a tearful glance at his friends. "Do whatever you want with me. I'd rather die than have any harm come to them."

"Interesting. But what's to stop me from just taking you and then crushing your pathetic friends like bugs?"

"If you let them go, if you keep them safe-" Dipper tore his eyes away from Mabel to look up at Bill. "I won't fight you. I'll do whatever you say, and I'll never try to escape or defeat you. You'll have me as your slave forever."

He closed his eyes, knowing that if he took one more look at his friends trying to save him from this fate he'd never be able to go through with it. Dipper extended his hand once more. "Do we have a deal?"

Bill started laughing, quiet at first, and then so loud that it hurt Dipper's head. The brunet felt a cold hand grasp his wrist, and opened his eyes to see half his arm be engulfed in blue flames. The last thing Dipper heard before he blacked out was Mabel's shrill scream.


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper blinked awake, his surroundings fuzzy. He put a hand to his head, the dull ache fading away as he came to. His eyes finally focused on what was in front of him- a giant eyeball about an inch from his face.

"Aah!" Dipper let out a high-pitched shriek and scrambled backwards across the bed he found himself in. "Bill?" He looked the demon up and down. "What-" suddenly the events of last night came rushing back. Dipper felt his shoulders slump. "Oh. Oh no. Oh my god." He looked up at the demon, panicked, "Where's Mabel? Is Mabel okay? Are they all-" with a snap of Bill's black fingers Dipper found himself unable to make a sound.

"Oh, your little friends are fine, pine tree. Trust me. After all, we did shake on it." Bill's eye scrunched up as he chuckled at his own joke.

"Were you just sitting there waiting for me to wake up?"

"Creeped out already? I thought it'd take more than that to break you." Cipher chuckled. "Although judging by your act last night, maybe you're broken already."

Dipper bit his lip, trying not to show how much that comment stung. He tried to focus on something other than his terrible fate and the loss of his friends, and realize that he was gently bobbing up and down.  
"Is-" Dipper pushed on the bed, incredulous. "Is this a waterbed?"

"Humans don't do that anymore? They were very popular when I met Ford." 

"I do not know what to say to that statement." Dipper almost wanted to laugh. Bill must already be draining the sanity from him.

"Can I see them?" Dipper asked meekly.

Bill rolled his eyes "I guess so, pine tree. But it seems like I'm doing an awful lot of favors for you and getting nothing in return." He loomed over Dipper, his eye flashing rainbow colors. "What'll you do for me, huh, pine tree?"

Dipper looked at his empty hands, then back at Bill. "What do you want?" He asked.

"Hmm." Bill stroked the area where his chin might be if he had one. "A lot of things. For now, let's just get you into something a little more..." Bill smirked and snapped his fingers. "Comfortable."

Dipper immediately felt a cold weight on his wrists and throat. He looked down to see glowing gold manacles on his wrists, and he could sense that around his neck there was a matching collar. He flushed red, tears threatening to return again at such humiliation.

"There. Now you'll finally stop being in all the wrong places." The gold began to glow brighter, and Dipper's arms were pulled to the bed, placing him on all fours, unable to look at Bill. Abruptly, the shackles forced his arms above his head, throwing the boy backwards and pinning his wrists against the wall as Dipper squirmed and fought to catch his breath. 

Suddenly an image of his friends appeared in front of him and he saw them shivering in a stone room with bars on the windows. Dipper sucked in a breath, outraged. "You threw them in prison?" He screamed, kicking and thrashing, trying to get to Bill so he could wring his ugly neck, or whatever the demon had. "You lying, backstabbing- we had a deal!" Dipper looked at Mabel's miserable face and began to sob angrily.

"I upheld my end of the deal, you ungrateful brat. They're safe. Do you want me to throw them a party, too?" Bill said sharply. "I'm a busy guy, but not too busy to punish them if you don't stop thrashing around like that."

Dipper immediately fell still, his chest heaving as he frantically tried to reason with the golden demon. "Please. I just want them to be happy. Please, I'll do anything."

"Anything?" Bill's eye scrunched up, an idea forming in the triangle's head.

"Yes! Yes, anything! You've already taken everything from me! What's left? Do your worst, Cipher! Please, I can't stand to see them like this!" Dipper pleaded.

Suddenly Dipper found himself in a familiar lamb costume. "Do a jig for me, pine tree." Bill cackled.

Dipper felt a tear roll down his cheek as he began to miserably do the lamby dance. He felt like he was no longer himself, his spirit breaking as he realized that he had sentenced himself to an eternity of this debasement. He hoped at least his friends would be okay.

"Sing, Dipper! You can't forget the song!" Bill continued to tease him as Dipper shakily sobbed out the lyrics. Finally after what seemed like hours of this, Dipper began to cry too hard to continue singing. "Okay, that's enough." Bill sighed. "I have some killing to do in town.

Dipper slowly came to a stop, his head hung low, feeling the collar around his neck as a constant reminder of his new life as a slave.

"Great job, kiddo. Your friends are in a nice big house now. Here have some food. Mortals still need to eat, right?" Suddenly Bill vanished, leaving behind a glass of water and a bowl of macaroni and cheese.

Dipper tore off the costume and slumped on the floor in nothing but his underwear and his restraints, sobbing. The macaroni lay untouched while he cried himself to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy finals week, y'all. I ended up writing this instead of studying, so. You're welcome? I await your suffering

Dipper awoke on the floor, the tray of food now cold beside him. He sat up shakily, lifting his head up and wiping the drool from his face. His hair was matted and his eyes felt red and raw. A draft blowing through the long, black curtains made him shiver, and the sudden motion of his muscles brought a stinging pain to his attention. He lifted a hand to his neck and discovered the source, a sensitive friction burn from his new collar. Great.

Dipper slowly got up, taking in his surroundings. A bed, a table, a lamp, and not much else. Black curtains hung in front of a large opening in the room. Every other available wall space was taken up by deep red paint covered in golden pictures of Bill. Dipper looked at the colors and shuddered, reminded of blood. The stinging in his various cuts and bruises suddenly felt stronger, and the boy winced in pain. He wished he had a first-aid kit. 

Out of nowhere, bandages and disinfectant dropped into his hands. Dipper looked around wildly for the source of the gift and, finding nothing, began cleaning his wounds, keeping a watchful eye on the room.

A while later, his wounds cleaned, Dipper relaxed on the bed, contemplating his situation. Idly he wondered what Bill would have him do next, what the world outside was like now, where this room was even located. Everything that had happened before seemed so unreal in this stifling, calm room. Dipper's stomach rumbled and he immediately felt a weight on his chest. He sat up quickly, and saw- takeout? What the hell? He opened the box slowly, waiting for something to jump out at him. Instead he found... chinese food. Panda Express. His favorite. Dipper's eyes narrowed, searching the room again, then focusing back on the food. "I mean, Bill is magic. The room is probably enchanted to take care of me so he doesn't have to do it." Dipper reasoned under his breath. "The disinfectant didn't hurt me, so..." He sniffed the food. It probably wasn't poisoned, he thought, and even if it was, being dead would be preferable to an eternity as Bill's slave. Dipper shrugged. Bill was probably gonna kill him soon anyway. He tried not to focus on how nonchalant he had been while thinking that. His stomach rumbled again and Dipper grabbed the fork and started shoveling the food into his mouth. 

What seemed like hours later, the takeout box lay discarded on the floor. Dipper sprawled out on the bed, bored out of his mind. Thoughts of his situation made his gut wrench, thoughts of his family more painful still. To distract himself, he began counting the individual squares that made up the large Bill-shaped decorations. He got to three hundred and eighty-seven before a thought struck him like a bag of bricks.

"The room can give me anything."

Dipper shot up from the bed, his eyes widening. 

"I want an escape hatch." Dipper crossed his fingers and prayed the room would be forthcoming.

"Come on, pine tree. You thought it'd be that easy?" 

Dipper spun around, breath stopped by the demon's booming voice. Blue flames sprung up around the room and an invisible force pinned Dipper to the wall. He cried out in pain as his shackles glowed and began to sear his flesh.

"Trying to break your side of the deal isn't gonna do any favors for your little shooting star." Bill snapped. A picture of Mabel, bleeding and in chains, swam before Dipper's eyes without his consent. 

"I'm sorry!" Dipper grew desperate, pleading with the demon. Tears filled his wide brown eyes. "I'm sorry, it was stupid! I won't try it again." He let his head fall and sank to his knees in what he hoped was a submissive position. "Please, don't hurt her." He began to sob, his shoulders shaking violently.

Slowly the flames died down, and Dipper's hands were allowed to fall to his sides. "Oh no," Bill suddenly sounded uncomfortable. "Oh no, don't- pine tree, don't cry." His eyeball darted sheepishly around the room. "I mean, we had a whole fun rivalry thing going, and now-" the triangle's eye narrowed with concern and discomfort as Dipper's sobs grew more violent. 

"Oh, man. Look, kid," Bill tried to reason. "Go back to the yelling. Yelling is fun. I can work with yelling. This-" The boy's tears showed no sign of stopping, and Bill felt the empty space where his heart should be fill up with something strange. Was this anger? Madness? No, this felt different. This felt painful, and sad. Was this- guilt? Bill began to panic. Was he feeling that guilt thing? Oh no. He had to fix this. This feeling was the worst kind of torture. 

"Um," he thought quickly about all his years of observing humans. Tentatively he shrank down and placed his newly-corporeal hand on the boy's back. "There, there?" The demon attempted. "It's okay, pine tree. Everything will be fine." He tested out the words, enunciating them carefully. 

They felt strange and clumsy. Bill decided he didn't like it.

Dipper slowly looked up at the golden being, shocked. Then, of all the things Bill expected to come out of his mouth, came the least expected. Dipper snorted. 

"What." Bill's eye narrowed.

Dipper's face contorted into something close to what Bill had seen on the tortured faces of his victims. Panic struck the demon's heart without him quite knowing why. "You okay, pine tree? Your face looks weird." He said worriedly.

Suddenly Dipper burst out laughing.

"What?" Bill exclaimed.

Dipper laughed harder, clutching his stomach as silent tears streamed down his face. Bill crossed his arms, waiting for the boy to explain his outrageous behavior.

Dipper finally quieted down, occasional giggles breaking out as the laughter subsided. "You care about me." He teased the floating triangle, wiping tears from his eyes.

Bill drew himself up, indignant. "Well of course I do. I like to destroy my things myself. They're no fun if they're already broken." But the jab was half-hearted, and the gold of his cheeks turned faintly red without his notice.

"You're ridiculous." Dipper sighed happily. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard. It was nice.

Bill had no response.

Dipper drew into himself at the awkward silence. "So." He remarked lamely.

"So what, pine tree?" Bill snapped, peeved without quite knowing why.

"Would it kill you to call me Dipper?" Dipper joked.

"I can't be killed, Dippin' Dots." Bill shot back, smiling in spite of himself. Suddenly, he remembered why this kid was the only meatsack he could stand.

Dipper winked at the demon, immediately shocked by his own actions.

Bill stiffened. He sensed a disturbance in the force field. "Gotta go. Buy gold!" He gave a small wave, and his red cheeks disappeared, along with the rest of him.

Dipper smiled and rolled his eyes. That was close enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, dippin' dots. Remember those? Fuckin delicious
> 
> If you don't have Panda Express where you live im so sorry your life sucks
> 
> Did you catch that fuckin Star Wars joke? It was really not subtle at all


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING IN HOT

"Tell me a story, pine tree." A voice was suddenly loud in Dipper's ear.   
The boy jumped about a foot in the air, turning to see Bill. His heart pounded as he tried to calm down. 

"Bill! Jeez, you-" the boy paused to take a deep breath. "You scared the crap out of me!" He had to resist the urge to give the demon a playful punch to the arm. The demon might not take that too well. Why did he even want to do that, anyway? Dipper looked down at his fist. He missed Mabel. He'd give just about anything to be able to give her a friendly sibling punch to the arm right about now. He let his fingers relax. At least she still had an arm. Maybe Wendy can take over the punching duties for him while he's- the boy shook his head, banishing thoughts of his family from his mind and turning his attention to Cipher. "What?"

"A story, Dipper. I love hearing about my amazing exploits, but it gets a little old when you were there in the first place." Bill smirked. "Tell me about the dumb stuff humans do."

Dipper blinked, trying to process the demon's request- order, Dipper, it's an order, you are not friends- and immediately thought of a million stories about the Mystery Shack and the most amazing summer of his life. He swallowed. Too painful. "Like," he ventured. "Like a fairy tale?"

Bill's eyebrow furrowed. "Fairies are dicks." 

Dipper pursed his lips to hide his smile. "Right." He said. Suddenly a brilliant idea struck the boy. "Actually," Dipper grinned. "I think I have the perfect story."

"No fairies."

"How do you feel about witches?"

Bill's eyebrow shot up. "I'm listening." He said carefully.

"Once upon a time," Dipper began, gesturing dramatically.

Bill rolled his eye, but a small smile began to form without his consent.

"Once upon a time, there was a handsome young prince." Dipper went on to describe a beautiful castle, his voice low and quiet, words seeming to enchant the air around him until Bill could imagine himself right there in the story.

"What was his name?" Bill asked, intrigued in spite of himself.

Dipper smirked slyly. "His name was... Will." He had to force down a chuckle at Bill's attempt to hide his excitement at being included in the story. 

"Will was a major douchebag." Dipper continued with a wide sweep of his arms, winking at the fancy dorito.

Bill grinned. "Watch it, space cadet." He flicked Dipper on the forehead, right in the middle of his constellation.

"That's a new one." 

Bill looked away, embarrassed. "You don't like pine tree."

"I never said that." Dipper's voice sounded odd.

Silence.

"Um." Dipper finally spoke. "So, the prince."

"Will." Bill emphasized.

"Yes." Dipper nodded. "One night, the night of a terrible snowstorm, the prince was up to his usual level of douchebaggery." Bill snorted. "Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find a disgusting old woman, holding a single red rose."

"Always with the roses with you mortals. It's an obsession." Bill remarked. "What are they even for?"

"You give them to the people you love."

Bill nodded as if he understood. Dipper wondered.

Dipper unfolded the tale of the beast in the top hat and the beauty in a sweater, the candlestick with fire-red hair, the handsome asshole from the village in the black hoodie.

"Wow, pine tree. That story sure was interesting and relevant. Almost as if you were planning this the whole time." Bill deadpanned, smirking at Dipper as the boy struggled not to laugh.

"Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." Dipper quoted, his giggles quickly becoming uncontrollable.

Bill rolled his eye.

"So what was your favorite part?" Dipper tried to be sneaky, wondering about the demon's answer. Would be choose the love story? The fights? The comic relief? Maybe Bill had more emotion than Dipper gave him credit for.

"My favorite part..." Bill thought. "Even the hideous beast has a nice side. An attractive guy like me, I've got this whole 'happy ending' thing in the bag." 

"You've got three sides, and none of them are nice." Dippers mind snapped back into reality for a second, a reminder that Bill was not his friend, he was his owner.

Blue fire roared in Bill's eye. Dipper flinched, expecting the demon to punish him or his friends. Dipper would have to be more careful. Instead, the flames subsided, the demon relaxing onto the bed.

"Maybe you're right, pine tree." He sounded almost wistful. "Maybe you're right. But who cares?" The black curtains sprang open and the triangle grinned, gesturing out the window at the surrounding wasteland. "I've already got my happy ending." With that, Bill disappeared, leaving Dipper wondering whether his happy ending would ever come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha fuck this


	5. Sing-Along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Encounter(TM)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fucking ashamed of myself I'm sorry I'm garbage

Dipper hadn't seen Bill for a week, or what Dipper thought might be a week in this place. For Dipper, though, it felt like an eternity. The room fed him and kept him entertained, but Dipper was starved for social interaction. He found himself missing Mabel and the rest of his family. He even started to miss the demon. It was really no fun talking to himself, especially when the triangle had been acting so… not evil. Dipper didn’t allow himself to say the word “nice”. Nice people didn’t imprison you and the people you love. His shoulders sank when he realized that a prison as cozy as this didn’t exactly make the demon evil, either. He asked the room for a book. He didn’t feel like thinking anymore.  
Dipper was re-reading The Hobbit when Bill suddenly appeared. Dipper forced himself not to look up. The last thing he wanted was for Bill to realize Dipper had missed him while he was away. Bill, noticing Dipper ignoring him, grew amused. He floated silently, waiting for Dipper to acknowledge him.   
"Is it true you're omniscient?" the boy finally ventured.  
"Yeah." Bill's eye narrowed. "Why?"  
"Just wondering." Dipper smiled, keeping his eyes trained on his book, even though he couldn't have been less focused on the words.  
"What do you want to know, pine tree?" Bill asked, floating closer. “What caused the big bang? Do aliens exist?” He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Wanna know how Lost ends?”  
Dipper forced himself not to laugh. “There are some mysteries best left unsolved.” He smirked. Bill laughed.  
"My question was more a matter of your opinion anyway." said Dipper.  
Bill raised his eyebrow. "Shoot," he said.  
"I always wondered whether you liked what Mabel did to your prison."  
Bill cracked up.  
"Kid, your sister is a terrifying madman. I could never come up with a torture that awful."  
Dipper started laughing.  
"Those colors really hurt my eye!" Bill cried.  
"I had to fight a court case in there!." Dipper laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.  
Silence.  
"I miss her."  
Bill realized not all of the tears spilling down Dipper's face were from laughing.  
More silence.  
“One time,” Dipper’s quiet voice rang through the room. “Mabel defeated an army of the undead just by forcing me and Grunkle Stan to sing karaoke with her.” Dipper smiled weakly.  
“Details.” Bill pressed, settling down on the edge of the bed. He was eager for anything that would wipe that painful look off his pine tree’s face, the look that made him feel so strangely empty inside.  
“She named us Love Patrol Alpha.” Dipper laughed.   
Bill floated a few inches in the air, filled up with glee. “Yes,” he said, barely holding back laughter. As Dipper’s face started to look happier, Bill was feeling physically lighter, which struck him as odd.  
Dipper was enjoying making the triangle laugh. “We sang Taking Over Midnight.”  
Bill started giggling. “Yes.”  
Suddenly Dipper had an idea. He stood up, clearing his throat. “Room: if you please.” Dipper requested. Suddenly a microphone appeared in his hand and a monitor appeared in the air in front of him. Loud pop music filled the air and Bill was frozen in shock. The demon looked at his own newly-corporeal hand to see a microphone in it. “Sing,” Dipper says. For some reason, Bill was finding it hard to look away from the kid’s face.  
“I thought you were the one taking orders around here,” Bill practically purred.  
Dipper rolled his eyes.  
“It’s Friday night! We’re gonna party ‘til dawn. Don’t worry, Daddy, I’ve got my favorite dress on.” Dipper winked saucily at the demon, and Bill doubled over in laughter. “Come on, sing!” Dipper beckoned the demon.  
Bill reluctantly sang the next lines. “We’re rolling to the party, the boys are looking our way, we just keep dancing, we don’t care what they say!” Dipper snapped in a z formation sassily.  
“And all the boys are getting up in my face...” Bill barely pushed the line out through his laughter.  
Dipper’s voice was out of tune, but Bill strangely didn’t mind. “Boys are a bore, let’s show ‘em the door, we’re taking over the dance floor!” The boy accentuated his words with a punch in the air. The triangle was flooded with warmth as he noticed how Dipper’s nose scrunched up when the boy grinned.  
Bill joined in for the chorus. “Oh, girls do what we like,” The demon snapped his fingers and colored lights began flashing, causing Dipper to snort with laughter. “Oh, we’re taking over tonight!”  
Bill pointed towards the sky and Dipper fell on his knees, arching his body backwards and holding the microphone over his mouth with both hands.  
“We’re queens of the disco!” They practically screamed.   
Dipper tipped his head back, pointing at the sky for the high note. “Taking over toniiiiight!”  
The pair collapsed into giggles, eventually settling into a strangely comfortable silence as the music and lights faded out. Bill saw the human smiling and he felt warm inside.  
But looking at the kid’s face, he realized Dipper wasn’t truly happy. He looked at the blue circles under Dipper’s eyes, darker than he’d ever seen them. He looked at the faint bruises left behind by the collar and cuffs on the boy’s pale skin, the half-healed cuts littering Dipper’s body from the battle. Even though the kid was smiling, he looked absolutely miserable, like a wounded fawn. Normally Bill would put such a creature out of their misery, but the sight of the kid made his body fill with a painful and unfamiliar emotion. Bill was starting to think if Dipper wasn’t happy, he couldn’t be either. Well ain’t this just a goddamn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation, he thought sarcastically. Then Bill remembered: Dipper didn’t exactly want anything Bill couldn’t do. He was the all-powerful god of this world. But what the hell did the kid want? Then it hit him.   
“Pine tree,” Bill burst out, startling the boy. “Say thank you.”  
Dipper furrowed his brows. “For what?”  
“You’ll see.”  
“Um.” The kid hesitated.  
“You’ll see.” Bill said impatiently.  
“Okay.” Dipper twisted his fingers nervously. “Thank you.”  
Bill snapped his fingers, smiling at Dipper's shocked face as the boy vanished instantly.  
Bill was left alone. He was used to that by now, but. This seemed to be worse than the other times.  
"I don't miss him." Bill said out loud to the empty room.  
He felt like an idiot.  
He saw a gold painting of himself staring at him.  
"Shut up." He ordered it.  
...  
Dipper appeared in the attic of the mystery shack. The room was empty, so he collapsed into a sitting position on the bed and looked around, trying to figure out what just happened. He saw his wrists free of shiny gold and gasped. Bill had let him go? He became aware of the feeling of his collar underneath his t-shirt. No, Dipper felt his heart sink. He wasn’t free. It had seemed like they were getting along. So what the hell was going on?  
Suddenly Dipper felt something stick to his shirt. He ripped a yellow triangle off his shirt and stared at the words on it.   
“Happy Billsgiving, Pine Tree. Week’s vacation sound okay? I’ll give you guys a breather from me, and maybe I’ll give your family twelve turkeys twerking or something. Is that how the song goes?” Dipper grinned and continued reading. “Anyway, Pine Tree, don’t forget about me while you’re gone. Not that you could with my necklace on. It suits you. See you in your dreams xoxo- Your Tortilla Chip”  
Dipper shook his head. The demon was acting so strange lately. And not in the classic evil way, either. Maybe-  
Suddenly he heard noises bubble up from downstairs. His heart started beating a mile a minute and he couldn’t think, throwing open the door and taking the stairs two at a time towards his family.  
He wasn’t about to waste a second now that Bill was doing something… nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry y'all please show up at my house and kill me
> 
> Also I have no beta someone fix my shit

**Author's Note:**

> I'm fucking garbage and I love upsetting the people I love


End file.
